Pennsylvania Department of Education
Office of Commonwealth Libraries
Glenn Miller, Deputy Secretary & Commissioner for Libraries

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

It’s always a bittersweet feeling when a colleague retires.  It’s even more bittersweet when that individual is someone who you trust and regard as an invaluable colleague and friend.

Thus, it is with a mixture of sadness and joy that I announce that Alice Lubrecht, Director of the Bureau of State Library, will retire on Friday, July 6, 2018.  As you can imagine, my sadness is caused by how much I know we here at the Office of Commonwealth Libraries (OCL) are going to miss her professionalism, her in-depth institutional knowledge, her can-do attitude, and her unwavering commitment to making the State Library of Pennsylvania excel in so many areas – both in Pennsylvania and across the nation.

My joy springs from the realization that the users of Pennsylvania library services have benefitted mightily from Alice’s great work and that, without question, she has earned this retirement, and then some.

Alice’s 42-Year Library Career

Alice is a graduate of Albright College (Reading, PA) with a Bachelor of Arts in History (1974) and a Master of Arts in Library Science (1977) from Rosary College (River Forest, IL.)

Her 42-year career in libraries began at the Wilmette Public Library (IL) as Head of Adult Reference services in 1976.  She then moved on to Wilson College (Chambersburg, PA) to become its Assistant Professor and Director of the College Library.

In 1984 she joined the State Library of Pennsylvania as its Assistant Director for Public Services, serving there for 9 years before she moved to OCL’s Bureau of Library Development to become our Academic Libraries and Networking Advisor.

In 1994, she was named Director of the State Library of Pennsylvania serving there for seven years. Then she took a break from state government by accepting a position at Harrisburg Area Community College as its Dean, Library and Information Resources/Campus Library Director.  She served there until 2009 when then-Deputy Secretary for Libraries M. Clare Zales convinced her to return to state government as the Director of the State Library of Pennsylvania.  In 2012, Alice accepted agency-wide leadership responsibilities when she was named Acting Deputy Secretary of Education, Commissioner of Libraries, and State Librarian during the transition between Clare Zales and Stacey Aldrich.

Alice’s Achievements

We here at OCL, Pennsylvania libraries, and library users everywhere owe a great thanks to Clare Zales for her skill in persuading Alice to return to serve in state government.   Just consider for a few moments Alice’s many achievements here which, taken together, explain why she is a highly-regarded library leader and innovator.  Most notably:

• In the 1980’s Alice helped lead OCL’s efforts to bring new technologies to Pennsylvania’s public libraries.  This included a program that placed one microcomputer (remember DOS?) at each district library center in the state.  She also traveled across Pennsylvania to deliver and introduce fax machines (or telefacsimile machines as they were called then) to public libraries;
• She helped lead the effort to implement the State Library’s first of several automated library systems;
• She led the effort to move the State Library’s automated system to the Keystone Library Network, thus allowing the library’s automated services to expand more rapidly to meet customer needs as technologies changed;
• She helped the State Library adopt an orientation that had a greater focus on customer service – for example she regularly encouraged staff to digitize unique items that were in the public domain for customers who weren’t able to travel to Harrisburg to use materials on site; and
• Finally, building upon her technical expertise and customer-service focus, she has been a recognized statewide leader in Pennsylvania’s digitization efforts, helping to establish the Scan PA program for public libraries, establishing a lending program for libraries to borrow portable digitization equipment, working with academic libraries to develop the PA Digital program that automates the harvesting and uploading of Metadata for thousands of digitized items located at Pennsylvania libraries to the Digital Public Library of America, working with HSLC to establish the PA Photos and Documents content management service, and making it possible for the State Library to digitize and upload over 16,000 items to Internet Archive.  All of this work has laid the foundation and paved the way for researchers around the world to have access to information and resources wherever they are located.

In short, you can see why I am sorry to see someone of Alice’s professional caliber leave our organization.  She has not only provided me with the guidance I needed as I learned about the State Library and its services, but she has also mentored many librarians and paraprofessionals across the state.  Although she will be missed a great deal, nevertheless we extend our heartiest congratulations and thanks for Alice Lubrecht’s many gifts and accomplishments.

Retirement Celebration

We will be celebrating the next chapter in Alice’s life with a small gathering of friends, family, and colleagues here at OCL on July 9.  If you would like to receive more information about how you could be part of that celebration, please contact Jonelle Darr at jodarr@pa.gov or 717-783-5725.

 

Glenn R. Miller | Deputy Secretary & Commissioner for Libraries
Pennsylvania Department of Education | Office of Commonwealth Libraries
Room 200 Forum Building
607 South Drive | Harrisburg, PA  17120-0600
Phone:  717-783-2646  |  www.education.pa.gov  |  @PaDeptofEd
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The mission of the Department of Education is to ensure that every learner has access to a world-class education system that academically prepares children and adults to succeed as productive citizens. Further, the Department seeks to establish a culture that is committed to improving opportunities throughout the commonwealth by ensuring that technical support, resources, and optimal learning environments are available for all students, whether children or adults.

This communication is issued on the Deputy Secretary’s behalf by Jonelle Darr (jodarr@pa.gov; 717-783-5725)